


Rhodey's Mama

by RueLawliet



Series: Mama Rhodes [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: But Mama Rhodes gets in there too, Friends to Brothers, Gen, Tony Stark Gets a Hug, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, mostly from Rhodey, smol tony stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-06 05:15:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17933540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RueLawliet/pseuds/RueLawliet
Summary: James Rhodes meets a tiny genius at MIT, and firmly decides the bony kid needs to meet his mama.





	Rhodey's Mama

When James Rhodes went to MIT, the last thing he expected was the room-mate that he got. He'd had no real expectations about what his room-mate would be like, actually, but if he had? Yeah, wouldn't have expected Tony. He'd stared down at the kid in front of him, shocked. Because staring up at him had been enormous brown Bambi eyes, bloodshot and wild, from under an untamed brown shock of hair. And as he'd tried absently to keep up with the kid's frenetic babbling, he'd noticed the twitching hands of a caffeine addict, the bony frame, and worst of all, a hollow void behind his eyes.

Then he'd abruptly registered the aforementioned babbling, and realised that this little guy was a _genius_. In summary, his room-mate was young, painfully intelligent, and the most heart-wrenching sight he'd ever seen. He was unable to help himself from mentally imagining the kid as a tiny, shaking, abused puppy, still looking for affection despite being beaten down.

James took a breath, introduced himself, and officially met Tony Stark.

\--

It took him a few weeks to become sure of certain things. One, Tony Stark stayed awake for days, with only the aid of caffeine and spite. Two, Tony Stark didn't eat when he was creating, theorising, or inventing. Three, Tony Stark was _always_ creating, theorising, and inventing.

It hadn't taken him long to get attached to Tony; just over a week, really. The more James noticeably liked him, the more Tony became both visibly surprised, and utterly silly. He'd started gently bullying Tony into eating, occasionally sleeping, and even more occasionally drinking something that wasn't caffeinated. But one November day, Tony's cracks began to show properly. He'd shuffled over and stared at James, lost.

“My head's too full. I've got so many ideas, and there's so many problems to solve, and I can't... I can't focus!” His bony hands had grabbed fistfuls of hair, his big brown eyes shining as tears started to well up and overflow.

James felt his heart clench, and before he realised it had practically ripped his blanket from his bed. He bundled Tony in it like a small, sad burrito, gathered him into his lap like a child, and hugged him. Tony had blinked tiredly, the closest he could come to shocked in his exhausted state, and broke down. He'd rambled through sobs, telling James how he was so tired, that his head was never quiet, that people dismissed him just because of his age, that he felt like he was never good enough, never moving fast enough, never _genius_ enough.

As Tony held onto coherency by a thread, James just listened, stroking his hand through wild brown hair, giving him a little squeeze after particularly wrenching sobs, and firmly locked Tony Stark into place in his heart under the heading _brother_. 

Eventually, Tony sobbed himself dry. He'd looked up with a sniffle, face barely sticking out of his blanket burrito, and given a wobbly smile. “Thanks, Rhodey.”

Newly nicknamed, Rhodey smiled back. “Anytime, Tones.”

*

In December, when Rhodey asked what Tony and his family were doing for Christmas, he was horrified by the answer he got.

“No idea what they're doing. Some shitty gala, probably. I'm staying here.”

Rhodey had stared at him for over a minute, before Tony had turned to him after feeling the eyes boring through his back.

“What?”

Rhodey's brow furrowed. “You're staying here.”

“Yep.”

“For Christmas.”

“Uh-huh.”

There had been a long pause.

“ _Oh, hell no._ ”

*

Rhodey was a man on a mission. It was urgent. Critical. An aid mission.

Rhodey needed to call his mama.

His mother had answered the phone, and greeted him happily. They made the usual small talk, before Rhodey took a deep breath.

“Mama? My friend needs help.”

He had told her about Tony during other calls, but only briefly. Now, he explained Tony's genius, his disregard for caring for his health, his constantly clamouring brain that made him work endlessly, and then that he'd planned on staying at MIT over the holidays.

There was a small silence, before his mama's voice came through, louder than usual.

“ _Oh, hell no._ ”

Rhodey smiled.

*

They stared at each other, unblinking.

“Rhodey, I think I'm hallucinating again. I could've sworn you'd just invited me to spend Christmas at your house...”

Rhodey crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow. “You aren't hallucinating, I really just said that.”

“Oh.”

A pause.

“Why?”

“Firstly, nobody should be alone on Christmas. Secondly, you're my friend, and I like you. And thirdly, I want you to meet my mama.”

Tony lifted a hand to scratch his head, and only remembered he was holding a wrench when it thunked against his skull. He winced, rubbing absently at it. “You want me to meet...”

“My mama, yeah.”

Rhodey could practically _see_ Tony's brain working. “Again... why?”

Rhodey smiled, rolling his eyes a little in fond exasperation. “Because I've told her a lot about you, and that you're my best friend, so she wants to meet you herself.”

Tony froze, eyes wide. “I'm your best friend?”

Rhodey slung an arm around his bony shoulders. “Obviously. Who else?”

Tony was silent for a long moment, slightly stunned. He blinked a few times, and then gave Rhodey a tiny, pleased smile. “Yeah, okay... thanks, platypus.”

Rhodey snorted. “You're welcome, nerd.”

*

Rhodey spent the drive down to his mama's smiling, and it passed pleasantly in a whirl of Starbucks cups, blueberries (pretty much the only thing Tony ate without prompting), and cheesy Christmas songs. Unsurprisingly, Tony loved cheesy Christmas songs. Tony pretended to be offended when Rhodey expressed his lack of surprise.

“What's that supposed to mean, Rhodey-bear?”

“I'm not surprised, because you're the _king_ of tacky, Tones.”

Tony pressed a hand to his heart, pretending to be mortally wounded. “Sourpatch, how could you say that?!”

Rhodey mused that the drive was far more pleasant when spent playfully bickering with his best friend.

*

Mama Rhodes was a force to be reckoned with. That's not to say she was at all aggressive or abrasive, but there was a quiet strength to her that warned you not to mess with her family. Contrasting this was the way she looked at Tony after greeting and hugging her son.

Rhodey had stepped back and watched in satisfaction as his mama had looked Tony over thoroughly in the space of seconds, and watched with quiet glee as her eyes had softened even further. She had immediately enfolded the tiny genius in a gentle hug, smelling of cinnamon and oranges. Rhodey had taken that as a sign she'd made her usual Christmas cookies earlier than the norm this year, and he was reassured by the implicit message that she was going to feed this child until he looked less like a skeleton.

“It's wonderful to meet you, Tony. Just call me mama.”

Tony shot him another one of those uncertain looks that made Rhodey's heart ache, before carefully and slowly returning the hug.

“It's good to meet you too... mama.”

*

It took Tony all of one minute to win over mama Rhodes, but it took mama Rhodes half a day to win over Tony, and that was simply because he had no idea how to respond to someone so warm, so motherly. 

She made a point to give him little affectionate touches, like a pat to his shoulder, or a stroke of his head as she walked by. She coaxed him into eating her freshly baked cookies, and even to have a glass of milk with them. She asked what he was studying, what he was working on, and was genuinely interested in his replies. When she was impressed by his ideas, he actually believed her. 

Mama Rhodes smiled, gently patting Tony's hand. “You're such a smart boy, Tony. I truly believe you'll change the world someday.”

Tony had been slowly opening up to mama Rhodes, and accepting that she meant the nice things she had to say about him, and to him. But that one comment was what truly startled him. This wonderful, kind woman... believed he would change the world. She believed he would do great things, and that he was smart enough to impact the lives of people everywhere, in a _positive_ way. He smiled, like the sun breaking through a cloud.

“ _Thank you_ , mama. I hope so.”

*

Years later, mama Rhodes watched her honorary son give a press conference, and knew she'd been absolutely right.

“The truth is... _I am Iron Man_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come and flail with me on Tumblr at uppercuts-and-undercuts.


End file.
